USB connectors are utilized in a variety of environments for connecting devices to computer systems or other types of processing systems. A common USB connector utilizes a printed circuit board, with all core and discrete components soldered onto one or both sides. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a conventional USB connector 10. This type of connector, a standard USB connector 14 with a metal shield 12 is soldered onto the front of the same PCB board. The size of the metal shield is standard, where the opposite side of its 4-contact area 16 contain no components. U.S. Pat. No. 7,297,024, entitled “Universal-Serial-Bus (USB) Flash-Memory Device with Metal Wrap Formed Over Plastic Housing,” issued Nov. 20, 2007, describes an elongated USB casing device which is fully either plastic or metal wrapped with no sliding carrier or switching mechanism. The printed circuit board is encapsulated in resin and then placed on a molded plastic casing.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,094,074, entitled “Manufacturing Methods for Ultra-Slim USB Flash-Memory Card with Supporting Dividers or Underside Ribs,” issued Aug. 22, 2006, discloses an ultra slim device without a metal shield. All core and discrete components are soldered on a PC board and then enveloped in a plastic casing composed of top and bottom casing parts. This is not a standard USB connector and so it oftentimes has to be specifically adapted to the computer system.
Another manufactured device without a standard USB connector with a metal shield is disclosed with the core components in an unpackaged die form-factor with an intent to reduce the size. The PC board substrate is composed of such dies and discrete components soldered onto the PC board encapsulated in resin finishing. Then the device is covered by an external plastic casing.
The absence of a USB connector with metal shield causes high wear-out durability and quality issues. Also, if the device is too long, it will not be as rigid and sturdy. When the plastic is used for casing, and the device is inserted and extracted repeatedly by the user into the female USB port, there is increased wear. This results in loosened or weakened insertion when the thickness of the plastic of the device wears out.
In addition, with all of these prior art systems, there is a need for some kind of encapsulation process, such as resin encapsulation or the like, which is utilized to protect the part. This resin encapsulation costs money and requires longer manufacturing time and there are still reliability and quality issues.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method that overcomes the above-identified issues. The system should be cost-effective, easily adaptable, minimizing the length of the device, and utilized with USB-connector type systems. The present invention addresses such a need.